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In between all the eating, drinking and merry music-making that made our wonderful Christmas party, we also held what quite possibly became the longest ever raffle in aid of Lichfield Foodbank. If there's one thing Lichfield Gospel Choir excelled at in 2016 (as well as, you know, singing in ETO's St John Passion and taking the Symphony Hall by storm for Community Spirit) it is surely raffling. We raised £121 which, amazingly, was enough to pay for 190 meals!Lichfield Foodbank have been in touch to thank us for the donation and say how much it was appreciated! They've fed approximately 900 people since April and of those more than 300 were children. It's great to know we played a small part in that.

"Everyone who came to the foodbank from 28th November up until Christmas was given a special voucher so that they could collect a Christmas bag for each member of their household just before Christmas.We were able to assemble 200 of these bags which was really good as we know they were all very much appreciated. They make a real difference to families who are in crisis at this challenging time of the year."

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Every Tuesday we rehearse at Saxon Hill school in Lichfield. We're really fortunate to have such a welcoming place to practice, with a piano and room for all 90 of us - not to mention an array of beautiful artwork on the walls!As we raise our voices in a vamp, or stamp-clap-hallelujah through a chorus, it's easy to forget that we're sharing the building with Saxon Hill's Sleepover Club and, not too far away, the young people who stay there are getting ready for bed. Happily, just before Christmas we had chance to sing to our hosts and present them with the proceeds of a raffle organised by soprano, Shirley Trelfa.Here's what the Lichfield Mercury had to say:

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